Michael Gove says the number of Etonians surrounding David Cameron is 'preposterous'

Michael Gove has hit out at the number of old Etonians in David Cameron's inner circle as he said such a "preposterous" situation does not exist in any other developed country.

The Education Secretary said it was "ridiculous" that the Prime Minister had surrounded himself with so many people from a privileged background.

Among the Old Etonians around the Prime Minister - himself a former Eton boy - are his chief of staff, Ed Llewellyn; the head of his policy unit, Jo Johnson; the minister for government policy, Oliver Letwin; and Chancellor George Osborne's chief economic adviser, Rupert Harrison.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Gove compared the group to the cabinet of Eton-educated Tory prime minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, the Marquess of Salisbury, who was criticised for alleged nepotism and cronyism.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Conservative cabinet was called Hotel Cecil. The phrase 'Bob's your uncle' came about and all the rest of it. It is preposterous," he said.

"It doesn't make me feel personally uncomfortable because I like each of the individuals concerned, but it's ridiculous. I don't know where you can find some such similar situation in a developed economy."

Mr Gove, who went to a fee-paying school in Scotland, said the concentration of Old Etonians in the higher echelons of the Conservative Party was a function of the fact that "more boys from Eton go to Oxford and Cambridge than boys eligible for free school meals".

His comments were seized on by Labour as evidence that the Conservatives are "out of touch" with the concerns of ordinary people in Britain.

Shadow Cabinet Office minister Jon Ashworth said it was a "reflection of the Conservative Party" under Mr Cameron.

"It's up to David Cameron who he puts into top jobs, and the fact is that the Prime Minister has chosen to surround himself with people just like himself. He's leading a Government that's completely out of touch," he said.

"That's why his decisions have helped a privileged few rather than hard-working families, with tax cuts for people earning over £150,000 while wages are down an average £1,600 a year."